Texas Rebels: Quincy

Quincy handed his mom coffee cups from the table, his heart beating a little faster at the mention of Jenny. He hated that, but he couldn’t control it.

Egan and Rachel came in and they continued to clean up. Rachel went upstairs to check on Zane. Since she was a teacher and going to the school anyway, she picked up Zane every morning. She’d grown attached to the boy.

Phoenix came in, rubbing his shoulder. “Rachel hit me.”

Egan laughed. “Rachel’s the least of your worries. Wait till Falcon and Jude get hold of you.”

“I’ve already spoken to Falcon and made it clear that there is to be no more hitting.” Their mother made her opinion clear. “I will take care of Phoenix and Paxton.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Egan lifted an eyebrow at Quincy and he just nodded. She wanted the matter dropped, and her sons would do just that in her presence. But later was anybody’s guess.

As Quincy continued to work, he wondered how things were going with Jenny and Paxton. She’d been extremely upset last night and he hoped they could forgive and part as friends. Why he hoped that, he had no idea. He just didn’t want Jenny to be hurt any more than she was.

* * *

JENNY WOKE UP to pounding, and it was in her head. Loud and painful. Crap. She rolled over and pushed hair out of her eyes. What had she done? Getting drunk solved nothing.

Crawling out of bed, she grabbed her head to stop the pain. It didn’t work. Staggering out the door, she met Lindsay in the hallway. She’d been called in to the hospital with a nursing problem last night.

“You’re home,” Jenny muttered.

Lindsay’s mouth fell open.

“What? I know I look like hell. Right?”

“Go into the bathroom and look in the mirror.”

“I don’t need to see myself.”

“Yes, you do.” Lindsay pushed her into the bathroom and Jenny stared at the wild-looking woman in the mirror. Her hair looked like a rat’s nest.

“What did you do last night?”

“Uh...” The embarrassing confrontation at the party came rushing back, as did the pounding.

“Not to throw you into a tizzy or anything, but Paxton’s waiting to talk to you in the kitchen.”

She swung around. “Tell him I don’t want to see him.”

Lindsay eyed her sister, and Jenny hated it when she did that. “Don’t you think it would be best to end this the right way?”

“And how would that be?”

“By being an adult and listening to what he has to say. Obviously, he wants to apologize.”

“You know what he can do with that apology.”

“Jenny...”

“Oh, okay.” She walked out the door.

Lindsay followed her. “Don’t you think you should comb your hair and change?”

“For what? I’m not dressing up for Paxton. I’m not doing anything for Paxton.”

“Jenny, you’re in shorts and a tank top.”

Marching to the kitchen, she shut out Lindsay’s nagging voice and went straight to the coffeepot. Her dad sat in his chair drinking coffee and eating breakfast. With his hat in his hand, Paxton stood there, looking nervous.

Her dad pushed away from the table and reached for his cane. “I’ll give you kids some time alone, but I’ll be right outside.” Giving Paxton a long look, he limped out the back door.

Jenny poured a cup of coffee, wishing her head would stop pounding. She took a deep breath and turned to face Paxton. The handsome face she’d loved for so many years now had worry lines stretched across it and the stress showed in his brown eyes.

Of the brothers, Paxton and Phoenix were the only ones under six feet. Phoenix was slim while Paxton was all muscle and that did well for him as a bull rider. He was as tough as any bull he’d ever ridden, with grit and determination unequaled by any cowboy. That was one of the things she had loved about him.

She sat at the table and sipped her coffee. “Why are you here, Paxton?”

He gripped the hat in his hand. “I came over here to apologize for my behavior. My mom said I took the coward’s way out and she was right. I should’ve called you.”

“You needed your mother to tell you that?”

“Come on, Jenny.” He motioned toward the chair. “May I sit down?”

“If you must.” She took a gulp of coffee, hoping it would boost her wide-awake, recharge her batteries and possibly make her a beautiful blonde.

“I’m going to be completely honest.”

“Now, that would be refreshing.”

“I’ve never lied to you, Jenny, even when you asked me about other girls, I told you the truth. The last time we broke up, I told you it was for good. We couldn’t keep doing what we were doing. It wasn’t working for either one of us.”

She remembered how much that had hurt. But then, all their breakups had been hard. She’d just never thought...

“Can you remember the last time we had sex?”

Her eyes jerked to his. “What?”

“I can’t. Can you?”

She just stared at him and resisted the urge to smack him. How dare he ask her that?

“When we were in high school, we needed each other. I was there when your mom died and you listened while I talked about my dad. We leaned on each other because we needed that support and we trusted each other. That turned into much more, but looking back, our relationship was always about friendship. When I started spending more time on the circuit and away from home, I realized there were a lot of pretty women out there who didn’t want to be tied down. I never wanted to be tied down. I told you that many times, but you never seemed to hear me. You wanted so much more than I could give you.”

She twisted the cup in her hand, looking down into the dark depths and seeing that young girl who’d clung to Paxton because she’d had no one else. Her sister had been dealing with her own pain and so had her father. Paxton had soothed all those broken pieces inside her.

“Whatever we had was good and we both clung to it because it made us feel better. But that’s not what real love is. I know what it is now. And when you’re in love, you want to be tied down.”

There was a butter knife on the table and she picked it up and handed it to him. “Why don’t you just stab me in the heart?”